We've been to Maui a couple times together, but this trip was different because we had a whole new appreciation for rest, relaxation, being on our own schedule, and focusing on marriage-care and self-care.
We did 1/2 the week down in Kihei and 1/2 the week in Kaanapali. We'd never stayed down in Kihei before and we really enjoyed it! I think we would definitely stay there again. It just seemed to have more of a local feel and felt less touristy or resort-ish. It was just more low key which we really liked. In the future I would stay in a condo down there (we stayed in a hotel this time) so we could have a kitchen and cook but otherwise Kihei was really great. Here was some highlights:
*There are some really great state park beaches in Kihei. One was right across the street from our hotel and we frequented that beach quite a bit--taking walks, laying out, playing in the ocean, etc. At one of the state park beaches a little north of our hotel, we took our breakfast one morning and watched the surfers
Beach across the street:
*We found great little local restaurants some of which have chains or other locations on the island, but they still felt like fun, low key businesses. To name a few--Coconuts, Java Cafe, Miso Phat Sushi, and Cafe O'Lei. The food trucks were also amazing! There was one close to the beach where we got huge pieces of fish along with rice and salad for only $14 a plate! We took our dinner that night down to the beach to enjoy the sunset. There was another food truck we ate at for lunch that had the best tacos. Yum!
*Kihei has an amazing Aquatic Center where we went twice in the morning to do lap swims. And it was free!?!? So nice to do an outside morning swim with the sun coming up.
*One of the days we rented road bikes and took a long ride down through Wailea out to McKena State Park. It was a beautiful ride, but also tough with all the little hills and windy roads.
*The last day in Kihei we decided to rent surfboards and try our hands at surfing. We'd both had lessons in the past and didn't feel like we needed them again. Talk about feeling old! We were amazed at how sore we were after trying to surf for 1.5 hours. James got up multiple times and I got up finally at the end. It was so fun and a great adventure, but our bodies paid for it. I also got a terrible sunburn even though it was cloudy. But I'm glad we did it--any chance to be in the ocean was wonderful. Sadly no photos from surfing since we were both in the water at the same time.
For the second half of our trip we were up in the Kaanapali area. We were fortunate to stay at the beautiful Westin Ocean Villas where we stayed a couple years ago thanks to a great deal we received in the mail. I would say this half of the trip was a lot more relaxed. We were definitely in "island" mode by this point. Here were some of the highlights:
*Luckily our first full day in the area it was cloudy and rainy which was nice because the back of my legs looked like a lobster from surfing the day before. So we just took a nice drive up north, explored around Honolua Bay and then went back to the room to watch Return of the Jedi and take naps. It was kind of a nice break from the sun and a very relaxing day.
*We enjoyed an incredible dinner at Lahaina Grill which is always our "go to" fancy restaurant when we're in Maui. We are never disappointed with this place. The flavors, presentation, service, etc. are all top notch. This was our 3rd time at the restaurant and we couldn't stop oohing and aahing over what we put in our mouths. Yum!
*We had two full days of basically lying by the pool doing nothing. It was heavenly. I don't think I've ever done as good of job relaxing on a trip as I did on this one. We'd move from the sun to the shade to the pool and just listen to music, read our books, talk or just zone out enjoying the perfect tropical breezes and the ocean/pool views. We really soaked in our place and tried to be as present as possible to really enjoy it.
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| View from my lounge chair |
*Our major adventure in Kaanapali was snorkeling at Black Rock near the Sheraton. This activity was especially spectacular because we essentially were swimming with a family of sea turtles! We've snorkeled this area before and saw great fish, but I've never snorkeled so close to sea turtles before. It was amazing! I could have watched them all day. Sadly no photos--wish we had a Go Pro.
*We saw probably about 4 gorgeous sunsets on the trip. There's just nothing quite like a Maui sunset. And it amazed us how early it gets dark in Maui--around 7:30pm which is weird compared to Washington's 9:30pm darkness.
All in all it was a fantastic trip and just what we needed. It was good for our marriage, bodies, and souls. And of course our boys had an amazing time with their grandparents--they barely even noticed we were gone. I did observe though that they were very cuddly when we got home and didn't want us to be away from them so I think we all have a new appreciation for each other.
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| Aloha! |
